There on the edge of the fountain laying in her normal after school attire of a black sneaker, short black skirt, and with a tight fitting black t-shirt that had on a simple pink smiley the girl lay with a book resting over her face. She had been attempting to read it, it had just come out a few weeks ago and hadn’t been able to wait until she was able to buy it. But now that she lay here she found that she was more tired then her interest in reading could keep her awake. Sighing she felt her eyes drift shut as the rays of sun cast down on her pale skin and auburn hair. “Damn it all.” She said her voice muffled by the book. Really she had no idea what to do. She was bored and seriously needed something to pass the time besides sleep. This was what she got for staying up all night to finish that assignment for her class. Of course if she hadn’t waited till the last second then she wouldn’t have had to stay up all night. Procrastination was both a blessing and a curse.

Sitting up the book fell off her face and into her lap but of course it couldn’t stop there. It started to slide from her thighs and the short skirt towards the water. Quickly Kasumi scooped it up and sighed again. There was no way she was letting the book get wet. Looking up at the sky she saw a few clouds fluffed up and looking nice. A few birds flew over head and she smiled. It was a quiet day to say the least. Odd to her but she didn’t mind so much. Looking up at the beautiful art piece she was laying on she watched as the water spilled out. It made her want to go swimming. God knew it was hot enough for that after all. Yawning she shrugged her shoulders. “Not today.” She said and laid back down once again placing the book over her face. It blocked out the sun nicely and made a nice dark little cave over her eyes that made drifting off to sleep so easily now.

It was just a few minutes before she bolted up again thinking she had heard something. But of course there was nothing when Kas looked around and when the sound of the plop came to her ears her red eyes widened. “Oh no.” she said and looked down to see her book in the water thankfully not open. Reaching down quickly she pulled it out and wiped it off. The back cover was wet and so were the edges of the last hundred or so pages. “Damn.” She cursed and fought the sudden emotion that rammed over her. No she would not care that much. It was a book not a life. Setting the book on the ground with the back cover open to let the sun dry the pages and cover she laid back again and threw her arm over her eyes to block out the light. “Let’s try this again.” She said and yawned. Slowly her body relaxed once again and drifted off to sleep. Yes great time for a nap in the sun.

A faint sound of chirping birds and the sweet smell of caramell found themselves around the presence of this green haired girl. With a gentle smile and an ever present air of obvious strength of heart, it seemed as though she was a young adult. However, the green haired girl was only in her second year. There was one distinct feature of her that identified her from a distance: her odd hair style.

The girl found her way to the other side of the fountain, unaware of the girl next to her, for her focus was left in the water itself. Analytical and staring at the reflection, watching the clouds roll gently overhead, and of course, seeing strong rippling to disorient the magnificense.

Wait... That wasn't right. Looking over to where the rippling came from, she spotted another student, whom tragically dropped their book into the fountain. The girl seemed to be in a mix of emotion, and older than herself by at least two years. Shying from an introduction, Ryoko sat herself along the fountain side, allowing her hand to be slightly dipped in the water and shifting it, creating a small wave. Ah, the simple things that amused her.

The sound of water lapping at the side of the fountain was enough to stir the girl from her sleep. Granted it was only because she also managed to not really be a deep sleeper. Usually when napping at the fountain she got splashed or girls were loud and roudy and so she wanted to join. Today though Kasumi was a little curious as to what had stirred her awake. It wasn’t as loud as it usually was but glancing over she saw a girl, younger than herself, sitting on the side of the fountain using her hand to make small waves that traveled the length of the basin. She was a pretty little thing. Shorter than herself with green hair and bronze colored eyes. She looked at peace and Kas realized she didn’t know her. Shaking her head trying to not just go and jump the girl she put her hand on her book to see how it was drying. It wasn’t doing too bad but she would have to flip through the pages later.

Finally getting up she moved down the wall of the fountain a bit getting closer to the girl she didn’t know. On her final year she was more focused on getting through classes but that didn’t mean she couldn’t make friends! Sitting back down she thought about it before laying down again this time her head closer to the girl than it had been. Setting her book on her stomach the sixth year moved her eyes up so that she was able to see the younger girl. “Hiya.” She said with a smile that probably looked a little goofy with how she was laying down. Her red hair clashed against the side of the fountain but she didn’t really care. “My name is Kasumi, yours?” she asked wanting to get to know the girl. She wondered what year she was too. Had to be more than three years or well at least three, she looked really young. Course that could just be because Kas was used to dealing with people of her own year.

Waiting for the girl to reply she ran her fingers along the back cover of her book. It was beginning to develop waves and she knew she would have to fix it later but wasn’t sure how. Oh well, that was what happened when you were a clutz and dropped your books in fountains. Thankfully she didn’t mind having messed up books. Half her books were coming apart at the binding anyways from being read so much. Her parents always asked if she wanted new copies of them but she always declined. The falling apart and such gave them character! She would always explain to them and they would laugh and just leave it alone. At least until they noticed that yet another one was falling apart.

Her wandering eyes glanced only momentarily toward the girl she had seen before, catching the slightest hint of red out of her peripheral. There was something about looking new people in the eye that just felt wrong, but nothing felt weirder than knowing you had no idea what to say. Though things became clearer upon hearing this new girl's name, and her starting conversation by asking her own.

"Ryoko." She said, a melodic tone unintended but also unnoticed to herself.

"Amaterasu Ryoko." She confirmed again, removing her hand from the water but not her eyes. The waving of the water just captured her so easily sometimes, it was almost like she was dead to the outside world. The girl, as she was now able to look over at her, was in a position that would seem fairly oddball to those walking by. However, there wasn't a hint of self-consciousness to her, the way she spoke. This Kasumi girl, she knew exactly what she was to herself, which is more than could be said about most people.

However, this was all outside appearances at a first glance. Nothing about a person can be confirmed as one hundred percent accurate on a first meeting. Still, from mere body gestures that she made alone, Ryoko was interested. The girl also appeared to be older than she, by at least two years. Possibly more.

The girl had a pretty name that was for sure. She seemed shy, which was okay to Kas. She wasn’t really sociable but she liked to meet people. “What year are you Ryoko?” she asked and noticed that the younger one removed her hand from the water. Perhaps she was more shy that Kasumi had thought and she began to feel a little bad. “I hope I’m not making you feel uncomfortable. I just wasn’t expecting someone to sit down near me. I mean I know there are people sitting down around this area but most don’t sit on the fountain it seems.” Of course she knew it wasn’t against the rules. Just most didn’t want to risk the exact thing that had been happening to Kas since she laid down on the side of the water spout.

“What brings you out today?” she asked as a slight breeze picked up. It was entering close to winter but so far it hadn’t gotten that far yet. But she knew snow would be just around the corner. She needed to pull her winter clothes and uniform out of the dark recesses of her closet so that she wouldn’t have to rummage for them right as it was snowing. Tilting her head back she looked up at Ryo and saw her eyes still on the water. She didn’t care about some of the funny looks they were getting from those that walked by. She was a known lover of women, and had been for as long as she could remember. Kas was just really comfortable with them. She smiled softly and dipped her fingers into the water of the fountain causing a set of ripples.

Noticing that she still looked a little off Kas continued to talk hoping to make the other girl feel a bit better. “I’m a sixth year, ready to be done with classes of course.” She said and moved her hand in the water a bit. A playful thought came to the girl’s mind and she acted on it, didn’t even have a second thought to try and stop it. She lifted up her hand and aiming her fingers at Ryoko flicked them sending small water droplets onto the girl she had just met. She wasn’t sure how the other would take the play but she hoped she didn’t get too upset. Thankfully it wasn’t all that much water.

"Me? I'm in my second year." Ryoko smiled warmly, her stuffy introduction now over with, she felt more at ease. Why she always had to do that, she still didn't know. But, it's what she did at her house even to family. Which reminded her, this fountain looked a lot like the one back home. Probably why she got herself so lost in it at the time, but that could also be just her spacing out.

Which is what she was doing just then, thinking about all of those things. She snapped out of it and heard Kasumi ask if she was uncomfortable.

"No big. Sorry about the stuffy greeting, I was kinda brought up doing that. Can't kick the habit I guess. The fountain was really similar to the one back home, so I kind of got spacey when I saw it." Her reply was a lot more on the free spirit side than her greeting. It seemed this would be a fun day indeed. Now came a third question, about why she was out today.

"I'm not even sure anymore, actually. I think it was something about room mates?" She shrugged. "It can't have been too important or I'd remember it. If it was about room mates, it's probably that I was gonna go to the gate and see if I would be joined by one this year."

The girl in front of her then playfully squirted water at her. As cute as this was, it was also humorously out of the age group. Again, this Kasumi girl proved to be the type who does her own thing. Ryoko let out the slightest playful giggle, and wiped the water from her face.

"You've got a free spirit, for a sixth year. I don't see that a lot, it's pretty nice."

“Yeah a lot of us are pretty stuffy.” Kasumi said casting her eyes around to see if any of her age were there. There were a couple from her class but they were so engrossed in their own conversation and the books on their laps that they no doubt hadn’t even heard what had been said. That was normal for sixth years. Focusing on getting into their studies and getting out of school to move on with life. Most would go to college, usually in Europe or America, others would just go off and get jobs. Kas wasn’t sure what she would do with her life yet, but that hardly mattered really. She had to focus on keeping her grades up and passing everything first. Even though Kasumi had never had issues with class she never did quite enjoy it. “I try to just do whatever I think will be fun, so long as I don’t have studies. I’m all done with everything due in class next so time to relax.”

“I can’t imagine a home where you have to be so formal.” Kasumi continued closing her eyes again and laying her hands on her stomach. “My parents are always out trying to find new things to do. They hate being formal.” She smiled thinking of her parents spontaneous trip last year to Paris. They had tried to take her with but she didn’t get out of class and so they took a lot of pictures and got her a bunch of soveniers. “You have a fountain at home?” must be one big house was the only thought that came to the older girl’s mind. Perhaps that would explain the formality and everything. Usually those in money were a bit more uptight then others. Looking back at the younger girl she wondered things about her but couldn’t really bring herself to ask them. Kas wasn’t really a nosy person. It was rude to bottom into people’s business too much.

“Roommates?” Kas questioned. Then again she knew she was supposed to have one this year but she hadn’t met her yet. “I know I have one but she hadn’t moved into the room before I went out today wonder if she had already.” She paused and moved her head back to a normal angle looking up at the sky. “Do you want a roommate or a room to yourself?” she asked just trying to hold the conversation. It was nice that she had made a new friend. She hadn’t been holding her breath for it that was for sure. But it was nice for things to naturally happen.

"I hear ya." Ryoko smiled again, her gaze now direct into the upperclassmen's eyes. Her eyes were calm and nonthreatening, almost childish compared to the rest of her. She continued her rambling as she always did.

"I hate being stuck in class all the time. But I don't have many thing to do outside school. Then again my family lives maybe a few miles down the road, so I could hang there, but nah. They don't know how to have fun."

She turned her head toward the fountain and shrugged. "What can I say? The Amaterasu family is a bunch of nobles. I wonder if I'm actually related to them or not a lot. Heh... I had to learn proper feminine etiquitte as a kid. It was boriing, so I spent a lot of time alone by the fountain. So I guess I don't really need a room mate, but it would be pretty cool."

Ryoko was a rambler and a spacer, so keeping up with her topics was confusing at first. But if someone really cares to know what she's talking about, they will. Hopefully Kasuni didn't get lost in all of that. Ryoko was younger and had far lower social skills, but she was trying for sure.

Having just spent a couple of hours moving her belongings to her new room Ritsuko decided to reward herself by a walk in the sun. The sun was shining bright and clouds of different shapes were all over the sky. Such weather would always awaken Ritsuko’s imagination as well as brighten her mood. Making her way towards the fountain located perfectly in the school’s courtyard she received several greetings by friends or simply younger students that had gotten to know her. She would give each of them a warm smile, perhaps give a small wave and answer in a soft voice. But despite being well known around the school and loved by many, the mature looking woman walked alone and her soothing aura always seemed to a hold a tint of loneliness.

Her thought drifted back to her room as she remembered how someone else seemed to have moved in before her, maybe even lived there for a long time. As far as she knew the girl had been attending to St. Miator since first grade, which means that she must have had a roommate before. Holding back a frown to sweep her face the woman had to mentally chuckle at the thought of her roommate being an evil and rude girl that had simply chased her former roommates away. No, that couldn’t be right. She would rather imagine a cute girl with a young, loving heart. Maybe someone who could teach her how to loosen up and act how her own heart truly desired.

Stopping by the fountain she sat down and looked at the water. For a moment the thought of throwing off her clothes and jumping into the water felt too tempting to resist, but it was soon gone and she kept her calm. Letting a smile to her face Ritsuko’s brown eyes rested on the streaming water while her ears negligently started listening to the conversation a couple of girls beside her had. Somewhere in the chat Ritsuko picked up that they were talking about their personal life and school. - And then something about the fountain. Yes the fountain was indeed beautiful and probably a great subject to bring fourth if you had problems finding something to talk about.

Looking at the two she noticed how one of the students had green hair and a rare haircut. Still it suited her and Ritsuko couldn’t help but finding it cute. She also seemed to space out a lot and had a pretty face, in all a cunning young girl. The other girl seemed simply adorable and kind. “Cute,” She whispered to herself and turned back to the fountain, afraid of being caught staring at the two.


WORDS: 450!

TAGGED: Kasumi and Ryoko + anyone else that would like to join (:
NOTES: I hope my post is okay. *bows* I’m very bad at entering ongoing scenes though I hope this will do ^-^
MOOD: Good (:
LYRICS/QUOTE: Quote by Washington Irving.
GRAMMAR: As always written in Microsoft word and spell checked there, though typos can appear here and there.

Kas listened to Ryoko talk. She seemed to really loosen up which made the older girl feel better. She seemed to really like to talk. Something Kasumi was perfectly okay with. When she mentioned being stuck in class Kas smiled. She couldn’t agree more after all and it was nice to find someone that agreed. Granted yes, Kas loved going to class but sometimes they just seemed to go on FOREVER and she wanted to go out and do something else with her time. “You live that close?” she questioned and her eyes widened. Ryoko seemed to jump topics but it wasn’t’ too hard to follow for the older one. She was used to not being able to focus on one topic for long herself. “I remember etiquette classes. Hated them. Still do.” A laugh left her and she shook her head closing her eyes against the sunlight above her.

Opening them she noticed that Ryoko had kind of spaced out. Kas took the time to look around again. A new girl had joined them around the fountain and just as Kasumi looked at her the girl looked away. It made her wonder how long she had been looking at them. A smile crossed her face and she tapped Ryoko’s leg and motioned to the new girl. “We should talk with her too.” Kasumi said and sat up one of her legs going into the water. “Crap!” she yelled and pulled it out shaking it off. Her shoe was soaked. Oh well, too late now. Walking around to the far side of the new girl letting Ryoko be able to take the closer side she sat down right next to her. “Hello!” she said excitedly. She wasn’t always like this but today she was just in a really good mood so she was thinking she should share it.

“My name is Ting, Kasumi.” She said offering her hand to shake to the new girl. She had no doubt they were in the same school but she also looked like she might be the same age too. Kas’s eyes traveled to Ryoko encouraging her to introduce herself. She could tell she wasn’t as socialled as Kas but Kas had also had more years of doing it under her belt. “You look like you’ve been busy today. Out enjoying a bit of sun?” she asked the new girl still not knowing her name. Her smile was big loving that she was finding so many people to talk to for once. Usually she tried to be alone but today she was loving all the new faces. Classes meant she didn’t see many all the time. Of course she still had one other face to see too, her new roommate. She wasn’t sure what the girl’s name was but she knew she would be arriving today.

New face, initiate Lockdown. That was essentially the mindset she had, even if immediately after knowing her name, Ryoko would be more comfortable. It never ceased to amaze her, how quickly she froze in a new meeting situation.

"O-oh, right." She bowed, her facial features slimming to match her proper tone of voice and speech.

"Amaterasu Ryoko." She said, rising again, still feeling a need to be 'proper'. Kas seemed very relaxed, which made things a little bit easier to understand, but at the same time, she just couldn't shake the habit. That is, after all, what it was. She decided to stay quiet and just observe how things happened. Maybe that would give her some insight about what was going on.

It seemed like Kas was just enjoying herself completely, which was understandable for a sixth year that had such a free spirit. At the same time, this other girl looked like she was either very spaced out, or very deep in her own thoughts. Either way, it wouldn't be easy to really understand her until she responded.

Ryoko stood slightly behind Kas, both because she was second to introduce herself and because she was still in her nervous lockdown mode where she had to be proper about everything, and it was improper to stand in front of two people having a conversation.

Tearing her eyes away from the she set her copper orbs on the reddish-pink haired girl just as she sat her foot in the water. Her eyes widened slightly at this in surprise at the other girl’s cry, though they were soon filled with laughter and a soft chuckle escaped her mouth. Still her actions were most likely to be overlooked by the other two as she hid her chuckle behind her hand. Clearing her throat she let her hand down and turned her head to meet the eyes of the girl that had decided to approach her.

Smiling warmly she looked from the green haired girl to the other and listened as the two girls both introduced themselves. They were surely two quite different girls, one outgoing girl and a shyer one. Opening her mouth slightly she was about to give them her own greeting though held her voice back when the girl named Kasumi spoke up again.

“Indeed Kasumi-kun,” she replied, already using her usual ‘kun’ term to this girl like she did to every other student she knew at Astraea Hill, despite the fact that most of the girls she knew were not tomboyish at all. “I just moved my belongings into my new room, and I can assure you it was more exhausting than it might sound.” The blonde explained, never letting her soft smile leave her face.

Carefully taking Kasumi’s offered hand she moved closer to her and bent forward, only stopping when her face was abnormally close to the other girl’s. “Ara, ara it’s a pleasure meeting you Kasumi-kun,” She said in a lower tone before moving back and looking over at Ryoko. “You too Ryoko-kun. Please there’s no need to be shy I won’t bite,” Pausing a short moment her grin widened a little. “Too hard,” The sixth year finished giving the orange-eyed girl a wink.

“My name is Ritsuko Kanada,” Ritsuko told them and then looked down at Kasumi’s foot. “How unfortunate, the accident that happened to your shoe I mean,” Frowning slightly she raised one of her hands to her face and tilted her head to the side. “Though one can’t deny that it was partly my fault,” sitting down again she gestured towards her own shoes. “If we don’t have too different shoe sizes feel free to wear mine. -And don’t mind using heeled shoes like this. Walking around with one wet shoe may be pretty uncomfortable after all.”